I am a Masters student at the University of Pennsylvania, and I am applying
for the Ph.D. program here. I am here so that I can start a non-hierarchical,
community school dedicated to social justice in an urban community. I am
beginning with a Masters Thesis focused on the interplay between globalization
and American education (how economic policies guide educational priorities and
how educational institutions can frame a transformative response to these
economic policies). As I move forward into a Doctoral Dissertation, I will be
closely examining various small- and large-scale school reform models and
taking the most effective aspects of each as I design a school model and
organize educators and a community to get it up and running. So far, the
Sudbury schools seem to offer a lot as far as governance and approach to
learning go, and I'm very interested in the theoretical framework that drives
this kind of open learning community.

If you still have those books and tapes, I would be very interested in them.
My e-mail address is soniar_at_dolphin.upenn.edu and my phone number is (215) 222-
4605. Thanks!

-Sonia Rosen

Quoting discuss-sudbury-model-request_at_sudval.org:

> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > >From: discuss-sudbury-model-admin_at_sudval.org
> > >[mailto:discuss-sudbury-model-admin_at_sudval.org]On Behalf Of Linda Siska
> > >Sent: Thursday, November 21, 2002 1:06 AM
> > >To: discuss-sudbury-model_at_sudval.org
> > >Subject: [Discuss-sudbury-model] donation offer
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > When I was in high school, back in the sixties, I was one of the shy,
> > >quiet types who sat in the back of the class and was rarely noticed --
> not
> > >by teachers, and not by my peers. I studied hard and did extremely
> well;
> my
> > >grades were my self-esteem. But I was enough of a rebel to resent a
> system
> > >which gave me so few choices. My time, my life, were not my own and I
> hated
> > >it.
> > >
> > > I knew there had to be a better way. I resolved to someday open a
> school
> > >of my own -- a school where children would want to be -- a school that
> > >empowered instead of imprisoned. I went off to college and majored in
> > >education, reading _Summerhill_ and John Holt on the side. The plan was
> to
> > >teach a few years in public school -- just to gain experience -- and
> then
> > >strike out on my own.
> > >
> > > Life has a way of altering our plans. I married young, had children,
> and
> > >moved to Germany with my husband. Through all of the changes, my desire
> for
> > >a 'someday school' never abated. I studied Montessori, Waldorf and
> > >alternative schools looking for the right model. When I answered an ad
> in
> > >_New Age Magazine_ for a school called Sudbury Valley, I knew I had
> found
> > >what I'd been looking for. The problem was, I was still in Germany,
> living
> > >in a military community and never knowing from one year to the next if
> we
> > >would stay or 'go home.'
> > >
> > > Eventually, I took my teenage son, a high-school drop-out, and moved
> > >temporarily to Framingham. Sean was still a minor, so I lived with him
> for
> > >the first of his two years at SVS before returning to my life in
> Germany.
> > >
> > > I am now 53 years old. My husband will be retiring in another year,
> and
> > >we will at last be returning to the states. For my dream of a school,
> it
> is
> > >too late. I no longer have the energy or determination it takes to get
> a
> > >Sudbury model school up and running, nor do I have the desire it takes
> to
> > >keep one going.
> > >
> > > Surprisingly, I have no regrets. Looking back on my life, I believe
> my
> > >dream was not really about founding a school but about finding SVS. It
> was
> > >at SVS that my son regained a sense of dignity and self-worth, and it
> was
> > >there that he met the beautiful young woman whom he will marry this
> coming
> > >June. And it was in Framingham that I met some of the most incredible
> women
> > >it has ever been my privilege to know. Life is good, and I am blessed!
> > >
> > > What I do have is a full set of 'start your own school' materials from
> > >SVS. If there is someone out there who could use the books, tapes and
> > >videos, please let me know. I will gladly donate them to your cause and
> > >know that my goal is being fulfilled, though not by myself.
> > >
> > > Yours in common spirit -- Linda
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Discuss-sudbury-model mailing list
> > Discuss-sudbury-model_at_sudval.org
> > http://www.sudval.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/discuss-sudbury-model> >
Received on Fri Nov 22 2002 - 09:54:41 EST